Minutes of the Hanover & Elm Grove Coalition meeting
Tuesday 1st May – 6:30pm Phoenix Gallery Brighton
- Welcome , introductions & apologies
Simon Bannister (BHCC); Tom Goodridge (BHCC); Cllr David Gibson; Sarah McCarthy (Phoenix Community Association); Alexia Lazou (Hanover Community Association); Jenny Staff (Phoenix Brighton); Sarah Davies (Phoenix Brighton); Jill Peters (Hanover Community Association); Tim Read (BHCC); Joyce Edmond Smith; Amy Allison (Trust for Developing Communities); Denise Brown, Olive Shaw (May Rd); Paul Norman (Hanover Action); Jayne Brown (Queen’s Park Community Association), Fiona Levack (Lewes Road)
Apologies: Cllr Emma Daniel; Ian Macintyre (Hanover Action); David Hearn (HEGLAT).
- Appointment of meeting chair & minute taker
Simon Bannister (chair) & Tom Goodridge (minute taker)
- Last meeting – overview of minutes & emerging actions
- Terms of reference raised and on agenda today
- Further changes made to Hanover & Elm Grove Neighbourhood Action Plan
- Spring on the Patch
- Invite Tim Read (BHCC) to discuss restorative approaches within the ward
- Restorative Approaches within Hanover & Elm Grove – Tim Read (BHCC)
Following successful bid to BHCC collaboration fund (£10,000 in total), TR will lead a pilot of restorative justice (RJ) approaches within communities in the ward.
The money will be used to:
- Raise awareness of RJ approaches within communities
- How the coalition can harness these approaches within the Neighbourhood Action Plan (NAP)
- Potted history – Maori origins with a focus on perpetrators of crime/conflict making amends
- RJ approaches taken on following B&H becoming a restorative city (2015)
- Utilising these RJ approaches to tackle antisocial behaviour, graffiti, drug activity and building community cohesion with the student population
3 key aims:
- Capacity Building – supporting groups to thrive (May Rd being a prime example)
- Making RJ approaches relevant and visible – through awareness and training
- Practical Improvement – using Youth Offending Team reparation – related to their offence. Brighton Bike hub and Hanover Action are obvious options
Next steps – discuss how we measure success of instilling RJ approaches from the BHCC funding. Targets are needed – possibly around how people ‘feel’ due to embedding RJ approaches and improved connections between groups within the ward (e.g. May Rd).
Set up of a RJ project board – to coordinate the individual projects and feedback to Hanover & Elm Grove Coalition. Interest shown by Cllr Gibson, Denise Browning, Olive Shaw, Sarah McCarthy, Amy Allison, Jenny Staff.
Queen’s Park Community Association will be holding the funding but there will be a clear and democratic process for all groups to have access to deliver RJ projects within their streets/block of flats/small community.
- Updates from Neighbourhood Action Plan (NAP) working groups
Refuse, Recycling & Street Cleansing
Updates reflecting input from Hanover Rubbish Friends & Communications strategy proposed by group (Ian McIntyre)
Crime & Community Safety
Yet to hold a meeting
Environment, Biodiversity & Sustainability
Adopting principles from Hanover Action’s One Planet Living Planning into the NAP including: Adopting street planters; removing dead trees and carrying out an environmental audit of the ward. Hanover Action to include discussion of the NAP as an agenda item in their monthly meetings
Health
Looking for a lead to take this group forward – action for all
Digital Resilience
Arron (May Rd resident) interested in joining this working group
Citizens Online offer a Digital Inclusion & Resilience Report, which assesses a neighbourhood’s digital access and connectivity. They also provide Digital Champions training – linking up with Digital Brighton. SB to meet with them on May 10th
- Spring on the Patch
Successful event in partnership with Hanover Action, who provided a ‘recycling game’ activity. Further comments and suggestions re the NAP – SB will update the existing draft.
- Hanover & Elm Grove Coalition Terms of Reference
Simon was not able to circulate the draft TOR’s in time for the meeting, so this item was deferred until next time. Paper copies of three documents were circulated at the meeting: Short Version – ToR describing how the group operates at the moment; More detailed ToR; Group Constitution. (copies will also be emailed & placed on the website)
Action for all – Consider the three drafts provided for a discussion at the next meeting.
- Upcoming neighbourhood events
Phoenix Community Centre & Gallery Joint Open Day – Saturday 19thMay (3:30 – 5:30pm)
Open Edge – open day event at The Edge, run by TDC and Queen’s Park Community Association – Sunday 27th May (1 – 4pm)
- Next Meeting
Tuesday 12th June (6:30 – 8pm) – Venue TBC
- AOB – none
COMMUNITIES FORUM 